3 Times Core Striker Max was woken up
by Toa Karou
Summary: Post-series, hint at the end of Rescue Force. Core Striker Max could never get a good night's sleep.


I reeeeally love Rescue Force. It needs more love, though. So, ta-daa~

**Disclaimer: If I owned Rescue Force, these 2 would have more lines together.**

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><p>Core Striker Max awoke to the sensation of a warm hand on its driver door. "Hikaru, what are you doing here? The order to sortie hasn't been given yet and you're not suited up." The AI asked as its human partner seated himself in and shut the door. The internal displays lit up and the engine of the vehicle started up with a rumble.<p>

"Ah, sorry! Were you asleep? I just suddenly felt like spending some time with you..." Hikaru quickly apologised.

The engine quietened a little in relief. "I see."

After a moment of comfortable silence, Hikaru sat up and tapped the steering wheel lightly. "Max, let's go for a drive!"

Surprised by the sudden request, the AI paused for a moment, before giving its reply. "Okay." It switched control of its automotive systems to manual and surrendered control to Hikaru.

Two hours later, the duo finally returned to Rescue Phoenix. Hikaru alighted the machine, giddy with excitement. His head still spinning from the joy ride, he placed a hand against Core Striker Max's hood, only to feel dust and dirt coating the blue exterior.

"Ah, you're dirty! Hold on, I'll get you cleaned up!" The rescue worker ran to a storage room at the other end of the holding bay and retrieved a pail and a sponge.

"No need for that, Hikaru. I can use the automatic car wash t-" The machine's sentence was cut off by the sudden, but not at all unwelcome, feeling of a wet sponge running over its dusty hood. As the car continued to be cleaned, it began to relax, its body sinking lower on its suspension as its engine seemed to purr. Hikaru laughed when he felt the vibrating metal beneath his hands, petting the hood gently.

"You like this, don't you, Core Striker Max?"

Max could only purr in response.

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><p>"You're slow, Hikaru! Wave Search isn't going to clean itself!"<p>

"Sorry, captain! But these are heavy..." Hikaru whined as he stumbled across the enormous holding bay housing the vehicles of Rescue Force, carrying two buckets filled with water. As he was finally reaching his destination (Wave Search), the rescue worker stepped on a stray wet sponge on the concrete floor, skidding a metre or so before he finally fell flat on his face, the two buckets of water flying through the air and landing on the dozing Core Striker Max.

Core Striker Max's core programming kicked in the moment its sensors detected the cold liquid on its hull, interpreting the sudden sensation as a potential threat. Its engine roared to life, revving fiercely as the sirens on the roof sounded. The wailing siren made everyone wince, as its sharp sound echoed throughout the metallic holding bay. It wasn't until Hikaru realised what was going on and convinced the AI that Neo Terror hadn't revived and that they weren't under attack that Core Striker Max finally calmed down and cut the siren.

Of course, Hikaru got a lecture from Ishiguro and Core Striker Max.

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><p>Rescue Striker pulled up to the burning building, spraying immense volumes of water at the raging flames. Working together with the local fire department of the small town, the fire was quickly doused with minimal casualties. R-1 alighted the large vehicle to greet the firefighters, leaving Rescue Striker to its own devices. Naturally, it went to sleep, shutting off its engine and sub-systems to conserve energy.<p>

"Thank you, Rescue Force!" The fire department chief bowed to Hikaru, who saluted in return.

"No need to thank us, chief. We're just doing our part." Hikaru gestured at his teammates, who were all helping with the rest of the rescue effort. R-4 ran over to her sempai, still holding an unused ice pack. "R-1, we're almost done here. The rest can be handled by the local authorities."

R-1 nodded, taking out his Rescue Commander. "Captain, we're ready to return to Rescue Phoenix." After providing a short report on the situation, R-1 gave the order for the team to gather.

"Good job, everyone! Captain will be debriefing us back at Phoenix, so let's go!"

As the ambulances and fire engines left the scene, one of the larger fire engines rear-ended Rescue Striker, nudging it forward slightly. Rescue Striker awoke with a jolt, jarred by the sudden impact. Its siren sounded momentarily, cutting off before anyone really noticed the sudden noise amidst the ambulance sirens. It was in public, it mustn't attract too much attention to itself!

When R-1 returned to the driver seat, he was greeted by a grumpy-sounding (or at least as grumpy as a computerized voice can sound) AI.

"What's wrong, Rescue Striker? Got up on the wrong side of the bed?" Hikaru joked.

"Very funny, R-1."

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><p>Ishiguro glanced at the blue Nissan. "Are you sure, Hikaru?"<p>

"Of course, captain!" Hikaru replied firmly.

"Alright then. R-2, you'll be going to the town's fire department instead then. Take Rescue Diver and a few medium-sized vehicles with you for the demonstration." The captain commanded. "Dismissed."

As R-2 set off to prepare for the visit to the town's fire department, Hikaru turned to face his personal vehicle, Core Striker Max. After yesterday's extreme disaster, it had exhausted its power and nearly tapped into its emergency power supply. Today, Hikaru decided to allow his partner to catch up with its rest.

"Sempai, you sure you don't want to come along?" R-2 asked Hikaru, who shook his head.

"Say hi to sempai for me, alright?" The grey-armoured rescue worker saluted, before returning to Rescue Diver to continue his preparations. It had been a tough decision for the leader of Rescue Force, since he had been looking forward to the demonstration for the whole week where he could finally meet his best friend and former R-2, Kyousuke-sempai again. But alas, the Extreme Disaster was unexpected, and no matter how much Hikaru wanted to reunite with his sempai, he could not deny that Core Striker Max needed time to recover from the strain it took the day before.

Besides, he could always give sempai a surprise visit another day.


End file.
